Mary Sue Barranco

Mary Sue McDougle Rinando Barranco, 86, of Beaumont, passed away peacefully Wednesday, March 26, 2025, in Monroe, Louisiana. She was born on September 25, 1938, in Beaumont, to Zoe Marie “Mary” Hidalgo and Frank W. McDougle.

Mary Sue was a caregiver at heart and will be greatly missed by her family, to whom she was devoted above all else. She had genuine empathy for others, praying for the stranger in the passing ambulance and sharing the sorrows of others to lift them up. Being a devout Catholic, dedicated volunteer, and her family’s matriarch were her most significant gifts to those who knew her. Raising her children and ensuring their connections with their extended Cajun, Italian, and Scottish families were important pillars of her life. She was a natural artist as a dancer, performer, and decorator. Her eye for beauty came naturally. The twinkle in her eyes and kindness for others will never be forgotten.

At the young age of 6, Mary Sue became a student of Miss Judith at the Sproule School of Dance, participating in many ballet, acrobatics, tap, and adagio community performances and recitals. Miss Judith’s dance discipline resulted in Mary Sue developing a sense of class, poise, and grace, which she consistently demonstrated and often referenced as life skills. Additionally, she studied piano with Josephine LaRocca and later Sr. Mary Edna, O.P.  Playing Chopin and Bach were sources of inspiration to her family.

Following graduation from St. Anthony’s High School in 1956. Mary Sue married her high school sweetheart, Frank Anthony Rinando of the Alamo Grocery Store business. They had four children – Sarah, Lucian, Connie, and Jerry – and shared many special memories with their extended families.

An employee of the Jefferson County Courthouse as secretary for The Honorable Richard LeBlanc, she developed lightning-speed typing and office skills. After an extended illness, her husband, Frank, passed away in 1971. Her devotion to her family as a single mother during this time was only strengthened by her lifelong and profound religious faith through the Catholic Church. Further, she was an active member of Joy Community at St. Anne’s Catholic church in the 1970’s.

In 1972, Mary Sue ran into a former high school classmate, Anthony Barranco, at the ever-popular annual Beaumont event, the Texas State Fair. They courted, fell in love, married, and brought Happy, Nino, Giuseppe, and Miriam into the growing clan, making a total of 8! And her exceptional office skills from the Courthouse served her well, supporting Anthony’s CPA business and educating all her children on basic professional skills.

During decades as a St Pius X parishioner alongside Anthony, she was known as the “mom with all the kids” and was asked to start the church’s nursery program and teach CCD and Vacation Bible School. Her passion for singing praise music inspired her to participate in the choir for many years, in addition to volunteering for many church community events. Never one to leave before the recessional song ended, Mary Sue was usually the last to leave the church after mass or to spend time visiting with fellow parishioners in the parking lot; her children learned the power of patience, even if it took years to be understood.

After many years of carting children to schools, sports, music, gymnastics, dance, and family events, her passion for studying her Scottish ancestry led her to join the Scottish Society of Southeast Texas, where she became Chieftain, organizing many an annual Burns dinner or sharing her amazing shortbread (“it’s easy, well, you start with a pound of butter”). Years of researching her family’s genealogy to MacDougall origins culminated in a personal tour of the clan’s former castles and lands near Oban, Dollar, Clackmannanshire, high above Dollar Glen, and in the Scottish Highlands. She returned from Edinburgh with her clan’s tartan. One of her few requests for burial was to be dressed in her beloved sash and kilt.

An ardent fan of the mystery genre, along with police dramas and spy thrillers, she often cited Sherlock Holmes, Agatha Christie, and Tom Clancy (OG fan) or TV’s Blue Bloods, NCIS, and the Man from U.N.C.L.E. as references in life. Ever the puzzle solver, she was often found completing crossword puzzles. Later in life, she thrived at Beaumont’s Wellness Center, both as a front desk employee and fitness enthusiast, and loved playing Mexican Train with Angie Tarrer and friends or computer solitaire.

In 2012, her daughter, Sarah, invited Mary Sue to live with her in Monroe, Louisiana. However, she truly missed her family, friends, and church back home, plus the great state of Texas – “you can take the girl outta Texas, but you can’t take the Texas outta the girl.”

The family would like to honor Sarah’s compassion and dedication to Mary Sue for 13 years with their deepest gratitude. We are truly inspired by Sarah’s capacity to love in this selfless way.

Years of praying for archangels with her rosary, known as her “weapon,” and praying for her kids, including “those with dangerous jobs,” brought her strength and resilience over worrying for her children spread far and wide. She always said she was proud of ALL her children.

Survivors include her daughters, Sarah Tate of Monroe, Louisiana, Connie Rinando of Arlington, Virginia, Felicita “Happy” Barranco and her husband, Colonel Bret Woolcock, of Arlington, Virginia, and Miriam Barranco of Houston; sons, Lucian Rinando and his husband, Sam Magill, of Greensboro, North Carolina, Antonino “Nino” Barranco of Houston, and Giuseppe “Pep” Barranco and his wife, Ashley, of Beaumont; grandchildren, Josey Cole of Ruston, Louisiana, Shara Axton and her husband Ricky of Ruston, Louisiana, Harper Woolcock of Arlington, Virginia, and Lola and Nicholas “Nico” Barranco of Beaumont; great-grandchildren, Landon, Layton, and Lanie Axton of Ruston, Louisiana; sister, Lucy Lomonte and her husband, Nick, of Montgomery; brother, Frank McDougle of Channelview; and many precious and loved nieces, nephews, and cousins.

She is preceded in death by her mother, Mary Hidalgo (stepfather, Lucian Hidalgo); father, Frank W. McDougle (stepmother, Bell McDougle) husbands, Anthony Barranco and Frank Rinando; son, Jerry Rinando and his wife, Cindy; son-in-law, Barry Tate; sister, Nina Clamon and her husband, James; sister-in-law, Nathalie McDougle; and many in-laws, aunts, uncles, and cousins that she held dear.

A gathering of Mrs. Barranco’s family and friends will begin at 4:00 p.m. with a Rosary recited at 6:00 p.m., Friday, April 4, 2025, at Broussard’s, 1605 North Major Drive, Beaumont. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10:00 a.m., Saturday, April 5, 2025, at St. Pius X Catholic Church, 5075 Bigner Road, Beaumont, with her interment to follow at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Beaumont. A reception will follow in the Parish Hall at St. Pius.

Flowers, in her memory, are welcome and memorial contributions may be made to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, Tennessee 38105 or give online. Mary Sue was an avid volunteer and supporter of St. Jude’s.